Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, announced on Friday the successful completion of the pilot run for the new Centralised Pension Payments System (CPPS) under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) 1995. The CPPS is designed to enhance pension services for EPS members.

The pilot, conducted on October 29-30, disbursed approximately Rs 11 crore in pension payments for October to over 49,000 EPS pensioners across the Jammu, Srinagar, and Karnal regions.

According to the minister, the new system allows pensioners to receive their pensions from any bank branch nationwide, addressing longstanding challenges and ensuring a seamless disbursement mechanism.

The CPPS is scheduled for full rollout by January 2025 as part of EPFO’s ongoing IT modernization project, Centralised IT Enabled System (CITES 2.01), and will benefit more than 78 lakh EPS pensioners.

Commenting on the CPPS, Mandaviya previously stated, “The approval of the Centralised Pension Payment System marks a significant milestone in the modernization of the EPFO. This is a crucial step in our efforts to transform the EPFO into a more robust, responsive, and tech-enabled organization, committed to better serving the needs of its members and pensioners.”

This new system represents a paradigm shift from the existing, decentralized pension disbursement model where each Zonal/Regional Office of the EPFO maintains agreements with only a few banks. Under CPPS, pensioners will no longer need to visit a bank for verification when starting their pensions; funds will be credited immediately upon release.

Additionally, the CPPS ensures continuous pension disbursement across India without requiring the transfer of Pension Payment Orders (PPO) when a pensioner moves or changes banks or branches, providing relief to those relocating after retirement.

(Inputs from IANS)